Mycobacterium Antigens

ABSTRACT

There is provided a diagnostic reagent for use in the detection of  M. bovis  or  M. tuberculosis  infection in an animal, comprising a peptide which has an epitope from  Mycobacterium bovis  hypothetic protein Mb3645c (SEQ ID NO: 1) or an epitope from a polypeptide having at least 76% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/186,291, filed Feb. 21, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/742,223, filed May 10, 2010 (all 35 U.S.C. 371 requirements completed on Aug. 25, 2010), which is a national stage of PCT/GB2008/003724, filed Nov. 6, 2008, which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to antigens for use in the detection of mycobacterium infections, particularly Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis, in mammals such as cattle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

M. tuberculosis and M. bovis are important pathogens of man and animals. M. tuberculosis is thought to infect up to a third of the world's human population, remaining undetected during a latent phase of infection and reactivating to cause 10 million cases of tuberculosis and other diseases per year resulting in 2 million deaths (Corbett et al., 2003). M. bovis, which has more than 99.9% sequence identity with M. tuberculosis, is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and also causes disease in human. BTB represents a significant economic burden to the agricultural industries of various countries including the United Kingdom (Krebs, 1997; DEFRA, 2006).

Current methods of control for these mycobacterial infections centre on the live attenuated vaccine M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and diagnosis using an intradermal skin test with a purified protein derivative (PPD, tuberculin) harvested from mycobacterial cultures. The PPD skin test relies on a cellular immune response which is mounted in cattle with a mycobacterial infection. BTB control measures as applied for example in the United Kingdom and other European countries comprise a “test and slaughter” strategy where a positive result to a routine skin test with the single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT), leads to mandatory slaughter. In human populations the BCG vaccine has been used. However, BCG vaccination programs are hampered by widely differing rates of protection in different populations with efficacies that range from 0 to 80% (Colditz et al., 1994; Fine, 1995). In addition, vaccination sensitises individuals to tuberculin thereby interfering with diagnosis.

In addition to BTB skin tests, blood-based diagnostic assays that measure antigen-induced lymphokine production such as the interferon gamma (IFN-γ) are also under consideration. The cytokine IFN-γ appears to be critical in the development of immunity to M. tuberculosis. For example, both mice with a disrupted IFN-γ gene and humans with mutated IFN-γ receptor are highly susceptible to mycobacterial infections. However, specificity constraints are associated with the use of PPD in such assays. These arise due to the crude mixture of M. bovis proteins that PPD contains, many of which are cross-reactive with the BCG vaccine strain and environmental mycobacterial species such as M. avium and M. intracellulare.

Previous studies have demonstrated that diagnostic reagents which distinguish between vaccinated and infected cattle can be developed using specific, defined antigens that are present in virulent M. bovis but absent from the BCG. Genetic analysis of BCG has revealed that several large genomic regions have been deleted during attenuation and subsequent prolonged propagation in culture. These regions have been characterised, and antigens from one of these regions, RD1, have been studied extensively in several species including humans and cattle. For example, it has been demonstrated that protein or peptide cocktails composed of two RD1 region antigens, ESAT-6 and CFP-10, can be used to distinguish between M. bovis infected and BCG-vaccinated cattle. The ESAT-6/CFP-10 assay is reported to have a sensitivity of at least 77.9% in cattle with confirmed tuberculosis, and a specificity of 100% in BCG-vaccinated and non-vaccinated cattle (Vordermeier et al. 2001).

However, the level of sensitivity achieved with these antigens has not reached that of tuberculin. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide other antigens in order to achieve this desired sensitivity. The present invention accordingly addresses the problem of providing further discriminatory diagnostic reagents for the detection of mycobacterial infections.

Camus et al. (Microbiology (2002) 148 2967-2973) and the associated NCBI Accession no. NP_218132 is a disclosure of the genome sequence of M. tuberculosis H37Rv, including the gene encoding Rv3615c. There is no suggestion of the use of the Rv3615c polypeptide or portions of it within a reagent for use in detection of M. bovis or M. tuberculosis infection in an animal.

Gamier et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2003) 100 7877-7882 and the associated NCBI Accession no. NP_857284 is a disclosure of the genome sequence of M. bovis, including the gene encoding Mb3645c. There is no suggestion of the use of the Mb3645c polypeptide or portions of it within a reagent for use in detection of M. bovis or M. tuberculosis infection in an animal.

US2003/0129601 discloses a comparison of the genome sequences of M. tuberculosis and M. leprae and reports a total of 644 common protein sequences. It is proposed that these sequence may have a variety of uses including potential as drug targets, diagnostic antigens or subunit vaccine compositions. The inventors for the present application have found that one of the sequences has particular efficacy in the diagnosis of M. bovis or M. tuberculosis infection.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a diagnostic reagent, in particular for use in the detection of M. bovis or M. tuberculosis infection in an animal, comprising a peptide which has an epitope from M. bovis hypothetic protein Mb3645c (SEQ ID NO: 1) or an epitope from a polypeptide having at least 76% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1. The animal may be a mammal and preferably is a human being or a bovine species, for example a domestic cow. Alternatively, the mammal may be a badger. In a further alternative, the animal may be a fish or a bird species. The detection may take place by analysis of a sample obtained from the animal, such as a blood, saliva, faecal or tissue sample.

M. bovis hypothetical protein Mb3645c has the amino acid sequence: MTENLTVQPE RLGVLASHHD NAAVDASSGV EAAAGLGESV AITHGPYCSQ FNDTLNVYLT AHNALGSSLH TAGVDLAKSL RIAAKIYSEA DEAWRKAIDG LFT (SEQ ID NO: 1).

Mb3645c is the M. bovis equivalent of M. tuberculosis Rv3615c, which has an identical amino acid sequence. References herein to Mb3645c are, therefore, to be taken as including a reference to Rv3615c, unless otherwise implied or specified.

“Detection of infection” as mentioned above indicates that an animal which is infected with M. bovis or M. tuberculosis can be detected and, for example, may be distinguished from an animal which has been vaccinated against infection by one or both of these bacteria, for example, by use of the BCG vaccine. The ability to distinguish between these states using a peptide having an epitope from Mb3645c is surprising, in view of the presence of the nucleic acid sequence encoding this protein in all of M. bovis, M tuberculosis and the live attenuated vaccine BCG.

As described below, it has surprisingly been found that the known hypothetical protein Mb3645c comprises an epitope which can be used for diagnostic purposes, for example in the specific recognition of an M. bovis- or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal. This is because of the inventors' unexpected discovery that, as mentioned above, although the gene encoding Mb3645c is present in all of M. bovis, M tuberculosis and the live attenuated vaccine BCG, exposure of an animal or a sample from an animal to an epitope from Mb3645c only causes a detectable immune response in an animal infected with M. bovis or M. tuberculosis (or in a sample from such a animal). Such a response is not detectable in an uninfected animal (or a sample from one), even when that animal has been administered the BCG vaccine.

Based on an NCBI protein BLAST search, the closest known protein to Mb3645c (other than Rv3615c) is a hypothetical protein MAP3219c from M. avium which shares 75% sequence identity with Mb3645c. The present invention excludes any epitope in MAP3219c which is not also found in Mb3645c.

As used herein, the term “epitope” refers to the amino acids (typically a group of around 5 or more amino acids) within a peptide sequence which are essential in the generation of an immune response and which can, therefore, be used in a diagnostic test. The immune response may be an antibody mediated immune response, but may also be a non-antibody mediated immune response, for example, an immune response which can be detected by means of a cell-mediated immunity (CMI) assay. Therefore, the epitope may be one which is recognisable by a T cell, for example by binding of a T cell receptor to the epitope.

The epitope may comprise consecutive amino acids, or the amino acids forming the epitope may be spaced apart from one another. In the latter case, the nature of the amino acids between the amino acids forming the epitope may not be crucial to the activity and may be varied, provided that the tertiary structure of the epitope is maintained, for example so that an immune response such as a cell-mediated immune response can occur in response to the presence of the epitope. Determination of the amino acids which form an epitope or part of an epitope can be undertaken using routine methods. For example, one of a series of small mutations such as point mutations may be made to a peptide and the mutated peptide assayed to determine whether the immunogenic or diagnostic activity has been retained. Where it has, then the variant retains the epitope. If activity has been lost, then the mutation has disrupted the epitope and so must be reversed.

Suitably, the diagnostic peptide has less than 103 amino acids, for example up to 100 amino acids, for example up to 75 amino acids, for example up to 50 amino acids, for example up to 25 amino acids, for example up to 20 amino acids. It may comprise a truncated form of Mb3645c.

The diagnostic reagent peptide may comprise a series of consecutive amino acids from within SEQ ID NO: 1 or from within a polypeptide having at least 76% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1.

The diagnostic reagent peptide may comprise an epitope from (i.e., contained in) one or more of the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs 2-13, which are defined as follows:

(SEQ ID NO: 2) MTENLTVQPE RLGVLASHHD; (SEQ ID NO: 3) PERLGVLASH HDNAAVDASS; (SEQ ID NO: 4) SHHDNAAVDA SSGVEAAAGL; (SEQ ID NO: 5) DASSGVEAAA GLGESVAITH; (SEQ ID NO: 6) AAGLGESVAI THGPYCSQFN; (SEQ ID NO: 7) AITHGPYCSQ FNDTLNVYLT; (SEQ ID NO: 8) SQFNDTLNVY LTAHNALGSS; (SEQ ID NO: 9) VYLTAHNALG SSLHTAGVDL; (SEQ ID NO: 10) LGSSLHTAGV DLAKSLRIAA; (SEQ ID NO: 11) GVDLAKSLRI AAKIYSEADE; (SEQ ID NO: 12) RIAAKIYSEA DEAWRKAIDG; and (SEQ ID NO: 13) AKIYSEADEA WRKAIDGLFT.

The peptides of SEQ ID NO: 2-13 are overlapping 20-mer peptides which encompass the complete Mb3645c sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. As demonstrated below, these peptides comprise epitopes which can be used for diagnostic purposes, for example in the specific recognition of an M. bovis- or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal.

In one embodiment of the invention, the diagnostic reagent comprises one or more peptides each selected from the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1-13. The diagnostic reagent may comprise at least two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more peptides with an epitope from one or more peptides each selected from the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1-13. For example, the diagnostic reagent may comprise at least two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more peptides each defined by any of SEQ ID NOs: 1-13.

In another embodiment, the diagnostic reagent comprises a peptide having an epitope from the peptide of SEQ ID NO: 12 and/or 13. This diagnostic reagent may for example comprise the peptide of SEQ ID NO: 12 and/or 13.

In a further embodiment, the diagnostic reagent comprises a peptide having one or more epitopes from one or more of the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, or the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 or the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13. This diagnostic reagent may for example comprise any one or more peptides each selected from the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. In another embodiment, the diagnostic reagent comprises a peptide having one or more epitopes from one or more of the group of peptides consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 2 and 9-13.

The peptides of SEQ ID NOs: 1 and 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 (especially 10, 11, 12 and 13) contain dominant epitopes recognised by bovine T cells and are therefore particularly useful in the diagnostic reagent of the invention.

The diagnostic reagent may, for example, comprise a combination of epitopes derived from any one or more of the groups of peptides set out below:

SEQ ID NOs SEQ ID NOs SEQ ID NOs SEQ ID NOs SEQ ID NOs 2, 9 2, 10 2, 11 2, 12 2, 13 2, 9, 10 2, 9, 11 2, 9, 12 2, 9, 13 2, 10, 11 2, 10, 12 2, 10, 13 2, 11, 12 2, 11, 13 2, 12, 13 2, 9, 10, 11 2, 9, 10, 12 2, 9, 10, 13 2, 10, 11, 12 2, 10, 11, 13 2, 11, 12, 13 2, 9, 10, 11, 2, 9, 10, 11, 13 2, 9, 10, 12, 9, 10 12 13 9, 11 9, 12 9, 13 9, 10, 11 9, 10, 12 9, 10, 13 9, 10, 11, 12 9, 10, 11, 13 9, 10, 12, 13 10, 11 10, 12 10, 13 10, 11, 12 10, 11, 13 10, 12, 13 11, 12 11, 13 11, 12, 13 12, 13 10, 12, 13 8, 9 8, 10 8, 12 8, 13 8, 9, 10 8, 10, 12 8, 12, 13 8, 9, 12 8, 9, 13 8, 10, 12 8, 10, 13 7, 8, 10, 12 8, 10, 12, 13 9, 10 9, 12 9, 13 9, 10, 12 9, 12, 13

The diagnostic reagent may thus comprise any combination of peptides selected from those listed above, or any combination of the listed combinations.

Alternatively, the diagnostic reagent may comprise peptides having all of the epitopes from the group of peptides consisting of, for example, SEQ ID NOs: 12-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 11-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 10-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 9-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 7-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 2-13. For example, the diagnostic reagent may comprise all of the peptides from the group of peptides consisting of, for example, SEQ ID NOs: 12-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 11-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 10-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 9-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 7-13, or consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 2-13.

The diagnostic reagent may also comprise a fusion peptide in which fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 1 or a polypeptide having at least 76% identity thereto have been joined.

The diagnostic reagent Mb3645c-based peptides as defined herein may be used on their own or with one or more other peptides, for example to achieve greater sensitivity and/or specificity of a diagnostic test. For example, the diagnostic reagent may in addition comprise one or more polypeptides or peptides derived from ESAT-6 (SEQ ID NO: 14) and/or the CFP-10 (SEQ ID NO: 15) polypeptides, in which ESAT-6 has the amino acid sequence:

(SEQ ID NO: 14) MTEQQWNFAG IEAAASAIQG NVTSIHSLLD EGKQSLTKLA AAWGGSGSEA YQGVQQKWDA TATELNNALQ NLARTISEAG QAMASTEGNV TGMFA; and in which CFP-10 has the amino acid sequence:

(SEQ ID NO: 15) MAEMKTDAAT LAQEAGNFER ISGDLKTQID QVESTAGSLQ GQWRGAAGTA AQAAVVRFQE AANKQKQELD EISTNIRQAG VQYSRADEEQ QQALSSQMGF.

For example, the peptides derived from ESAT-6 may be the peptides of SEQ ID NO: 16-21, which are:

(SEQ ID NO: 16) MTEQQWNFAG IEAAAS; (SEQ ID NO: 17) AGIEAAASAI QGNVTS; (SEQ ID NO: 18) AIQGNVTSIH SLLDEG; (SEQ ID NO: 19) KWDATATELN NALQNL; and (SEQ ID NO: 20) GQAMASTEGN VTGMFA.

The peptides derived from CFP-10 may be the peptides of SEQ ID NOs 21-25, which are:

(SEQ ID NO: 21) MAEMKTDAAT LAQEAGNF; (SEQ ID NO: 22) QEAGNFERIS GDLKTQ; (SEQ ID NO: 23) VVRFQEAANK QKQELDEI; (SEQ ID NO: 24) NIRQAGVQYS RADEEQQQ; and (SEQ ID NO: 25) RADEEQQQAL SSQMGF.

The ESAT-6 and CFP-10 peptides of SEQ ID NOs 16-25 have been disclosed in Vordemeier et al. (2001) and provide a useful diagnostic for detection of M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-infected animals. Used in combination with the Mb3645c-derived peptides, as defined here, a more sensitive diagnostic reagent is obtained.

The diagnostic reagent according to present invention may accordingly be specific for M. bovis and/or M. tuberculosis.

The diagnostic reagent may be used in the detection of an M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal, for example an M. bovis-infected cow.

Also provided according to the present invention is a diagnostic kit comprising a diagnostic reagent as defined herein. The diagnostic reagent may, in particular, be able to detect an M. bovis- or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal. Preferably, the diagnostic reagent is able to differentiate between an M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal and a mammal vaccinated against M. bovis or M. tuberculosis (for example, a mammal vaccinated with the live attenuated vaccine BCG).

The diagnostic kit may be of particular use in the detection of a M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-infected mammal which is not susceptible to diagnosis by the ESAT-6/CFP-10 assay as described in Vordemeier et al. (2001).

The diagnostic kit may comprise one or more peptides each selected from those having amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs 1-13 and optionally additionally comprise one or more peptides each selected from those having amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs 16-25.

The diagnostic kit may be suitable for use in a cell-mediated immunity (CMI) assay. For example, the CMI assay may use detection of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) as a readout system in either EIA (Wood & Jones, 2001) or ELISPOT format (Vordermeier et al., 2002). As is well known to the skilled person, such assays do not depend on the detection of an antibody response but, instead, rely on recognition of an epitope by a T cell, for example via binding of a T cell receptor.

In a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an isolated peptide of between 5 to 100 amino acids in length, for example 8 to 100, 8 to 35, 8 to 25, 10 to 25 or 12-20 amino acids in length, in which the peptide has an epitope from M. bovis hypothetic protein Mb3645c (SEQ ID NO: 1) or from a polypeptide having at least 76% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1, and wherein the peptide has M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-specific antigenic and/or immunogenic properties. The isolated peptide may be 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 or 25 amino acids in length, for example 12 or 20 amino acids in length.

The term “M. bovis- and/or M. tuberculosis-specific antigenic and immunogenic properties” indicates that the peptide according to this aspect of the invention is detectable by means of an immunogenic assay, preferably by means of a cell-mediated immunity (CMI) assay.

The isolated peptide may have an amino acid sequence of any of SEQ ID NOs: 2-13, or may comprise a contiguous combination of one or more of these sequences (for example, any two of SEQ ID NOs: 2-13 joined together end-to-end).

The isolated peptide may be a peptide in which, compared with the corresponding section of SEQ ID NO: 1, various amino acids have been deleted. The peptide may thus be restricted to comprise the minimum number of amino acids required to maintain specificity against M. bovis and/or M. tuberculosis. For example, amino acid deletions may be acceptable provided that the tertirary structure of an epitope from SEQ ID NO:1 is maintained. A peptide modified in this way may be comprised within a fusion peptide.

The present invention also encompasses variants of the diagnostic reagent peptide and the isolated peptide. As used herein, a “variant” means a peptide in which the amino acid sequence differs from the base sequence from which it is derived in that one or more amino acids within the sequence are substituted for other amino acids. The variant is a functional variant, in that the functional characteristics of the peptide from which the variant is derived are maintained. For example, a similar immune response is elicited by exposure of an animal, or a sample from an animal, to the variant polypeptide. In particular, any amino acid substitutions, additions or deletions must not alter or significantly alter the tertiary structure of one or more epitopes contained within the peptide from which the variant is derived. The skilled person is readily able to determine appropriate functional variants and to determine the tertiary structure of an epitope and any alterations thereof, without the application of inventive skill.

Amino acid substitutions may be regarded as “conservative” where an amino acid is replaced with a different amino acid with broadly similar properties. Non-conservative substitutions are where amino acids are replaced with amino acids of a different type.

By “conservative substitution” is meant the substitution of an amino acid by another amino acid of the same class, in which the classes are defined as follows:

Class Amino acid examples Nonpolar: Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Pro, Met, Phe, Trp Uncharged polar: Gly, Ser, Thr, Cys, Tyr, Asn, Gln Acidic: Asp, Glu Basic: Lys, Arg, His.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, altering the primary structure of a peptide by a conservative substitution may not significantly alter the activity of that peptide because the side-chain of the amino acid which is inserted into the sequence may be able to form similar bonds and contacts as the side chain of the amino acid which has been substituted out. This is so even when the substitution is in a region which is critical in determining the peptide's conformation.

As mentioned above, non-conservative substitutions are possible provided that these do not disrupt the tertiary structure of an epitope within the peptide, for example, which do not interrupt the immunogenicity (for example, the antigenicity) of the peptide.

Broadly speaking, fewer non-conservative substitutions will be possible without altering the biological activity of the polypeptide. Suitably, variants may be at least 50% identical, 60% identical, for example at least 75% identical, such as at least 90% identical to the base sequence.

Also provided is an isolated nucleic acid which encodes a diagnostic reagent peptide, an isolated peptide, or variants thereof, as defined herein, but excluding the known ESAT-6 and CFP-10 polypeptides and peptides defined by SEQ ID NO. 14-25. Using the standard genetic code, a nucleic acid encoding an epitope or peptide may readily be conceived and manufactured by the skilled person. The nucleic acid may be DNA or RNA, and where it is a DNA molecule, it may comprise a cDNA or genomic DNA. The invention encompasses fragments and variants of the isolated nucleic acid, where each such fragment or variant encodes a peptide with antigenic properties as defined herein. Fragments may suitably comprise at least 15, for example at least 30, or at least 60 consecutive bases from the basic sequence.

The term “variant” in relation to a nucleic acid sequences means any substitution of, variation of, modification of, replacement of deletion of, or addition of one or more nucleic acid(s) from or to a polynucleotide sequence providing the resultant peptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide exhibits at least the same properties as the peptide encoded by the basic sequence. In this context, the properties to be conserved are the ability to form one or more epitopes such that an immune response is generated which is equivalent to that of the diagnostic reagent peptide or isolated peptide as defined herein. The term, therefore, includes allelic variants and also includes a polynucleotide which substantially hybridises to the polynucleotide sequence of the present invention. Such hybridisation may occur at or between low and high stringency conditions. In general terms, low stringency conditions can be defined a hybridisation in which the washing step takes place in a 0.330-0.825M NaCl buffer solution at a temperature of about 40-48° C. below the calculated or actual melting temperature (T_(m)) of the probe sequence (for example, about ambient laboratory temperature to about 55° C.), while high stringency conditions involve a wash in a 0.0165-0.0330M NaCl buffer solution at a temperature of about 5-10° C. below the calculated or actual T_(m) of the probe (for example, about 65° C.). The buffer solution may, for example, be SSC buffer (0.15M NaCl and 0.015M tri-sodium citrate), with the low stringency wash taking place in 3×SSC buffer and the high stringency wash taking place in 0.1×SSC buffer. Steps involved in hybridisation of nucleic acid sequences have been described for example in Sambrook et al. (1989; Molecular Cloning, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor).

Typically, variants have 60% or more of the nucleotides in common with the nucleic acid sequence of the present invention, more typically 65%, 70%, 80%, 85%, or even 90%, 95%, 98% or 99% or greater sequence identity.

Peptides and nucleic acids of the invention may be isolated from strains of M. bovis and M. tuberculosis. However, they may be prepared synthetically using conventional peptide synthesisers. Alternatively, they may be produced using recombinant DNA technology or isolated from natural sources followed by any chemical modification, if required. In these cases, a nucleic acid encoding the peptide is incorporated into suitable expression vector, which is then used to transform a suitable host cell, such as a prokaryotic cell such as E. coli. The transformed host cells are cultured and the peptide isolated therefrom. Vectors, cells and methods of this type form further aspects of the present invention.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for diagnosing in a host an infection of, or exposure to, a mycobacterium, comprising the steps of:

i) contacting a population of cells from the host with a diagnostic reagent as defined herein; and ii) determining whether the cells of said cell population recognise the diagnostic reagent.

The diagnostic reagent based on Mb3645c may be contacted together or separately from the diagnostic reagent based on ESAT-6/CFP-10.

The population of cells may include T-cells. Recognition of the diagnostic reagent by said cells may be by way of, for example, binding of a T cell receptor to the diagnostic reagent, for example, binding of the receptor to an epitope included within the diagnostic reagent. The mycobacterium may by M. bovis or M. tuberculosis.

The method for diagnosing may comprise a cell-mediated immunity (CMI) assay, for example a CMI assay which detects IFN-γ as described herein.

The term “polypeptide” as used herein includes long chain peptides, such as proteins and epitopic fragments thereof. The term “peptide” refers to smaller proteins, for example up to 100 amino acids in length.

Sequence identity between nucleotide and amino acid sequences can be determined by comparing an alignment of the sequences. When an equivalent position in the compared sequences is occupied by the same amino acid or base, then the molecules are identical at that position. Scoring an alignment as a percentage of identity is a function of the number of identical amino acids or bases at positions shared by the compared sequences. When comparing sequences, optimal alignments may require gaps to be introduced into one or more of the sequences to take into consideration possible insertions and deletions in the sequences. Sequence comparison methods may employ gap penalties so that, for the same number of identical molecules in sequences being compared, a sequence alignment with as few gaps as possible, reflecting higher relatedness between the two compared sequences, will achieve a higher score than one with many gaps. Calculation of maximum percent identity involves the production of an optimal alignment, taking into consideration gap penalties.

Suitable computer programs for carrying out sequence comparisons are widely available in the commercial and public sector. Examples include the Gap program (Needleman & Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453) and the FASTA program (Altschul et al., 1990, J. Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410). Gap and FASTA are available as part of the Accelrys GCG Package Version 11.1 (Accelrys, Cambridge, UK), formerly known as the GCG Wisconsin Package. The FASTA program can alternatively be accessed publically from the European Bioinformatics Institute and the University of Virginia. FASTA may be used to search a sequence database with a given sequence or to compare two given sequences. Typically, default parameters set by the computer programs should be used when comparing sequences. The default parameters may change depending on the type and length of sequences being compared. A sequence comparison using the FASTA program may use default parameters of Ktup=2, Scoring matrix=Blosum50, gap=−10 and ext=−2.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Particular non-limiting examples of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a histogram showing responder frequencies of screened candidate antigens;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing Mb3645c response in naïve cattle, infected cattle, BCG vaccines and ESAT-6/CFP-10-negative samples. Recitation of E6 and C10 are intended to refer to ESAT-6 and CFP-10, respectively;

FIG. 3 comprises graphs showing the correlation between mRNA abundance and antigenicity in M. tuberculosis (left hand graph) and M. bovis (right hand graph);

FIG. 4 shows responses of peptides according to the invention, determined using an IFN-γ ELISPOT assay with PBMC isolated from M. bovis-infected cattle (sequence 02 corresponds to SEQ ID NO:2, sequence 03 to SEQ ID NO:3 and so on). Numbers 3420, 3450 and 3606 are identifiers for the three cattle tested; and

FIG. 5 shows a FACS analysis performed after stimulation of PBMC isolated from M. bovis-infected cattle with peptides according to the invention (sequence 02 corresponds to SEQ ID NO:2, sequence 03 to SEQ ID NO:3 and so on, as above). Numbers 3420, 3450 and 3606 are identifiers for the three cattle tested.

EXAMPLES Introduction

The identification of new subunit vaccine candidates or diagnostic markers has been greatly enhanced with the development of various post-genomic approaches (Cockle et al., 2002; Ewer et al., 2006). These have largely involved sequence based analyses of the pathogen's genome. Here, the inventors took an alternative approach and focused on the transcriptional activity of genes to identify potential antigens. A method of microarray analysis was developed that quantifies gene expression on a global scale. As seen in Table 1, it was found that that many of the major mycobacterial antigens such as ESAT-6, CFP-10, Ag85B etc. are consistently highly expressed. Further to this, it was recently shown that the number of CD4+ T cells responsive to known mycobacterial antigens is closely related to the level of transcription of its gene (Rogerson et al., 2006).

With this as the basis, the inventors used a quantitative microarray analysis to identify genes that are consistently highly expressed in both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis across a variety of growth conditions. Fourteen of these genes were then selected and screened for their potential as immunogens and diagnostic markers of infection using M. bovis infected cattle. No evidence was found to support a link between mRNA abundance and antigenicity. However, surprisingly, the inventors still identified one antigen that discriminated between infected and vaccinated cattle. Further, the same antigen showed a marked response in infected cattle that do not respond to the classic mycobacterial antigens ESAT-6 and CFP-10, which will allow the antigen to increase the sensitivity of previously described differential diagnostic tests based upon ESAT-6 and CFP-10 (Vordemeier et al. 2001).

Methods Selection of Candidate Antigens

Six microarray datasets were used in this study. All RNA extraction and microarray hybridisations were performed as detailed in Bacon et al. (2004). The Perl computing language and the R statistical environment were used to perform all further data and statistical analysis.

For each data set, genome-wide mRNA abundances were calculated as follows. Initially, all control spots on the array were removed from the dataset, including all representing ribosomal RNA. The local background noise, as determined by the image quantitation software, was subtracted from each spot. No data values were excluded from this study as it was reasoned that weak signals (after background subtraction) were reflective of low abundance transcripts.

For each spot i on the array the fluorescent intensity from the RNA channel was normalised by simple division to the fluorescent intensity of the gDNA channel:

Normalised Intensity (R _(i))=RNA_(i)/DNA_(i).

The correlation between hybridisation replicates within each dataset was confirmed to ensure there were no extreme outliers. Technical and biological replicates were then averaged to provide a single normalised intensity value for each gene on the array.

To account for an observed probe length bias, signal intensity was normalised to probe length using a model of linear regression of log intensity on probe length:

Probe normalised intensity (log^(e) Rn _(i))=log^(e) R _(i)−(intercept+slope*Probe Length_(i))

The corrected Rn_(i) values were converted back to a raw scale and for ease of understanding are depicted as a proportional value, expressed in parts per million (ppm), based on the assumption that the sum of all intensity values represents the sum of the transcript (mRNA) population within the sample:

ppm=(Rn _(i)/Σ_(i-ith) Rn)*10⁶

Candidate antigens were then selected based on their consistent high expression across all six of the datasets which come from a variety of experimental conditions: M. tuberculosis in aerobic and low oxygen chemostats, M. tuberculosis in batch culture, M. tuberculosis in macrophages, M. bovis in aerobic chemostats, and M. bovis in batch culture. Using these datasets, genes were selected which were consistently amongst the top 15% of abundant mRNA transcripts across all conditions in either M. tuberculosis, M bovis or both. Candidates were further selected based on close amino acid homology between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis and little significant homology to other closely related species. Further to this, all candidates which had been tested previously were excluded. A total of 14 candidates were screened using 20mer overlapping peptides in this study (Table 1).

Cattle

10 uninfected control animals were obtained from herds within 4 yearly testing parishes with no history of a BTB breakdown in the past 4 years and tested for the absence of an in vitro IFNγ response to PPD-A and PPD-B, to confirm an absence of infection. A further 20 animals from similar BTB-free herds were vaccinated at least 6 months prior to sampling with 10⁶ CFU of BCG Danish strain 1331 (Statens Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark) according to the manufacturer's instructions (reconstituted in Sautons medium and 1 ml injected subcutaneously).

Blood samples were obtained from 30 naturally infected, tuberculin skin test positive reactors within herds known to have BTB. All animals were additionally screened for an in vitro IFNγ response to PPD-B and the presence or absence of a response to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 was recorded. These animals were housed at VLA at the time of blood sampling. Infection was confirmed by necroscopy and/or M. bovis culture.

Production of Peptides

Bovine tuberculin (PPD-B) and avian tuberculin (PPD-A) were supplied by the Tuberculin Production Unit at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, Surrey UK and were used to stimulate whole blood at 10 μg·ml⁻¹. Staphylococcal enterotoxin B was included as a positive control at 5 μg·ml⁻¹.

Peptides representing our candidates were pin synthesised as 20-mers spanning the length of all 14 proteins with each peptide overlapping its neighbour by 12 amino acid residues (Pepscan, Lelystad, Netherlands). These were dissolved in Hanks Balanced Salt Solution (Gibco) and 20% DMSO to 5 μg ml⁻¹ and grouped by gene into 26 pools of 8 to 12 peptides, with some genes represented by more than one pool. Pools were used to stimulate whole-blood at a final concentration of 10 μg·ml⁻¹ total peptide. Peptides from the ESAT-6 and CFP-10 proteins were synthesised, quality assessed and formulated into a peptide cocktail as previously described (Vordermeier et al., 2001).

IFN-γ/Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Whole-blood cultures were performed in 96-well plates where 250 μl whole blood aliquots were mixed with antigen-containing solution to a final concentration of 10 μg·ml⁻¹. Serum containing supernatants were harvested after 24 hours of culture at 37° C. and 5% CO₂ in a humidified incubator. The IFNγ concentration was determined using the BOVIGAM ELISA kit (Prionics AG, Switzerland). Results were deemed positive when the optical densities at 450 nm (OD₄₅₀) with antigens minus the OD₄₅₀ without antigens were ≧0.1. For comparative analysis of PPD-B versus PPD-A responses, a positive result was defined as a PPD-B OD₄₅₀ minus PPD-A OD₄₅₀ of ≧0.1 and a PPD-B OD₄₅₀ minus unstimulated OD₄₅₀ of ≧0.1.

BOVIGAM Data Analysis

All raw data from the BOVIGAM screening was handled using a PERL program, boviAnalyser.pl, which evoked analytical routines in the statistical environment R (R-Development-Core-Team, 2006). Graphs were generated using both R and Graph-Pad Prism v4.

Ex Vivo IFN-γ Enzyme-Linked Immunospot (ELISPOT) Assay

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from heparinized blood taken from three cattle which had previously exhibited an in vitro response to the Rv3615c peptide pool. Separation was performed using Histopaque 1077 (Sigma) gradient centrifugation, and the cells were resuspended in RPMI 1640 tissue culture medium containing 25 mM HEPES (Gibco), 10% fetal calf serum, 1% nonessential amino acids, 5×10⁻⁵ M β-mercaptoethanol, 100 U/ml penicillin, and 100 μg ml⁻¹ streptomycin. Cells were enumerated, and suspensions containing 2×10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ were prepared. IFN-γ production by PBMC was analyzed using a Mabtech bovine IFN-γ ELISPOT kit (Mabtech, Stockholm, Sweden). The ELISPOT plates (Multiscreen HTS-IP; Millipore) were coated at 4° C. overnight with a bovine IFN-γ-specific monoclonal antibody, after which the wells were blocked for 2 h using 10% fetal calf serum in RPMI 1640. The primary antibody and blocking buffer were removed from the plates, and PBMC suspended in tissue culture medium were then added (2×10⁵ cells well⁻¹) and incubated overnight at 37° C. with 5% CO2 in the presence of the individual antigens. Stimulation was performed using the peptides at a concentration of 5 μg ml⁻¹ or a pool of all 12 peptides containing 5 μg ml⁻¹ of each peptide. The wells were washed using phosphatebuffered saline plus 0.05% Tween 80. A secondary biotinylated antibody was used at a concentration of 0.025 μg ml⁻¹ and this was followed by incubation with streptavidin-linked horseradish peroxidase. After a further wash, the spotforming cells were visualized using an AEC chromogen kit (Sigma). Spots were counted using an AID ELISPOT reader and EliSpot 4.0 software (Autoimmun Diagnostika, Germany).

Fluorescence-Assisted Cell Sorting (FACS) Analysis

PBMC were isolated from fresh heparinized blood as described above for the ELISPOT assay and enumerated. Then a suspension containing 2×10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ was prepared and incubated overnight in a 24-well plate (Nunc) at 37° C. in the presence of 5% CO2 with either RPMI medium (unstimulated control), PPD-B, pokeweed mitogen (positive control), individual peptides at a concentration of 5 μg ml⁻¹, or a pool of all 12 peptides at a concentration of 5 μg ml⁻¹. After incubation, brefeldin A (Sigma) was added at a concentration of 10 μg ml⁻¹, and the preparation was incubated for a further 4 h. The plate was centrifuged at 300×g for 5 min, and the cells were resuspended in 250 μl (final volume) for transfer to a 96-well plate. Surface antibody staining was performed using Alexa Fluor 647-conjugated anti-CD4 (code MCA1653A627; Serotec) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-CD8 (code MCA837F; Serotec) antibodies. Differential “live/dead” staining was performed using Vivid (Invitrogen). After incubation for 15 min at 4° C., cells were washed and centrifuged before they were permeabilized using Cytofix/Cytoperm (BD) at 4° C. for 20 min and stored overnight at 4° C. Intracellular staining for IFN-γ was performed using R-phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-IFN-γ (Serotec) for 30 min at 4° C. Cells were finally suspended in 600 μl of buffer and analyzed using a Cyan ADP instrument and the Summit 4.3 software (Dako, Denmark).

Results

Genes that had been found to be consistently highly expressed in M. tuberculosis and M. bovis across a variety of growth conditions (termed members of the abundant invariome) were assessed for the presence of known antigens. Ten previously well characterised antigens were found to be a part of this abundant invariome (Table 1), which suggested that other consistently highly expressed genes could also be antigenic.

TABLE 1 Mycobacterial antigens found to be highly expressed across a variety of growth conditions Rv Name Avg PPM StDev Reference Rv0288 cfp7 781 286 (Skjot et al., 2002) Rv0440 groEL2 4438 2385 (Shinnick, 1987) Rv1174c Mpt8.4 1165 424 (Coler et al., 1998) Rv1886c fbpB/Ag85B 1464 1168 (Harth et al., 1996) Rv1987 Rv1987 495 136 (Cockle et al., 2002) Rv1980c mpt64 1316 629 (Harboe et al., 1986) Rv3418c groES 5189 2593 (Baird et al., 1988) Rv3616c Rv3616c 2619 1457 (Mustafa et al., 2006) Rv3874 CFP-10 5414 3950 (Sorensen et al., 1995) Rv3875 ESAT-6 2472 1229 (Berthet et al., 1998)

With this is mind, a list of 14 candidate antigens was generated based on their consistent high expression across a variety of growth conditions. These included in vitro chemostat and batch cultures for both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, as well as for M. tuberculosis infecting macrophages and growing in microaerophillic conditions. In the majority of cases, candidates were also selected based upon a close homology between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis but with little homology to other mycobacterial species (Table 2). The majority of the candidates are annotated as conserved hypothetical proteins. However, three are putative membrane proteins, one is an excisionase and one a member of the PE family of proteins. Overlapping 20-mer peptides were synthesised for the complete coding sequence of each gene and were grouped into 26 pools of 8 to 12 peptides, with some genes represented by more than one pool. These pools were then screened for their ability to stimulate an IFNγ response in vitro using whole blood from 30 M. bovis infected (bovine tuberculin (PPD-B) positive) and 10 M. bovis naive (PPD-B negative) cattle.

TABLE 2 Candidate antigens screened % aa seq homology to M. tuberculosis (“M. tb”) H37Rv if >50% Highly M. M. M. M. M. M. C. expressed Rv Mb M. tb bovis avium paratb leprae marinum smegmatis glutamicum N. farcinica in^(†): Function Rv1211 Mb1243 100 100 94 93 80 52 72 M. tb* CHP Rv1222 Mb1254 100 100 64 64 71 67 64 Mb CHP Rv1398c Mb1433c 100 100 Mtb & Mb CHP Rv2081c Mb2107c 100 100 Mb POSSIBLE TP Rv2876 Mb2901 100 99 68 58 50 Mb POSSIBLE CONSERVED TP Rv3271c Mb3299c 100 100 78 Mtb PROB CONSERVED IMP Rv3407 Mb3441 100 100 50 Mtb CHP PE FAMILY Rv3477 Mb3504 100 98 70 70 58 75 Mtb & Mb PROTEIN (PE31) Rv3613c Mb3643c 100 100 M. tb* HP Rv3614c Mb3644c 100 100 81 73 51 Mtb & Mb CHP Rv3615c Mb3645c 100 100 67 79 Mtb & Mb CHP Rv3633 Mb3657 100 100 Mb CHP Rv3750c Mb3776c 100 100 Mtb POSSIBLE EXCISIONASE Rv3866 Mb3896 100 100 89 78 Mb CHP ^(†)Expressed in all 4 Mtb conditions (batch culture, aerobic and low oxygen chemostats, macrohpages) or 2 Mb conditions (batch and chemostat cultures) *In all Mtb conditions except low oxygen CHP: Conserved Hypothetical Protein HP: Hypothetical Protein IMP: Integral Membrane Protein TP: Transmembrane Protein.

All M. bovis infected cattle had positive responses to PPD-B and in addition 23 of the 30 infected cattle responded to an ESAT-6/CFP-10 peptide cocktail (Vordermeier et al., 2001). The responder frequencies for all 14 candidate antigens in M. bovis infected and M. bovis naïve cattle are shown in FIG. 1. Seven of the candidates failed to stimulate any significant IFNγ response in either M. bovis infected or naïve cattle. Four of the candidate antigens stimulated a positive response in 10% or more of the M. bovis naïve animals. This suggested cross-reactivity with other environmental species even though the inventors had selected against significant homology in mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis or M. bovis. Four of the candidates stimulated significant responses in M. bovis infected cattle, although two of these were recognised in 10% or less of the cattle tested and had similar or greater responder frequencies in the PPD-B negative animals. Of the two remaining candidates Rv3750c/Mb3776c stimulated a response in 15% of M. bovis infected cattle and none of the naïve animals.

Mb3645c was not recognised by any of the M. bovis naïve cattle, whereas 11 of the 30 M. bovis infected animals (37%, p<0.01, FIG. 2) mounted a positive IFNγ response when stimulated with this peptide pool. Interestingly, given the recently proposed role for Rv3615c (the M. tuberculosis equivalent to Mb3645c) in the secretion of ESAT-6/CFP-10 in M. tuberculosis (Macgum et al., 2005, Fortune et al., 2005), it was noted that positive responses to the Mb3645c peptide pool from M. bovis infected animals were enriched in cattle that did not respond to ESAT-6 or CFP-10 (4 of 7, 57%, p<0.05, FIG. 2). This raises the possibility that these proteins could be used to increase the sensitivity of previously developed ESAT-6/CFP-10 based diagnostic tests (Vordermeier et al., 2001).

To assess Mb3645c's potential as an antigen for differential diagnosis of BCG vaccinated and M. bovis infected animals, the peptide pool in 20 BCG vaccinated cattle was screened. In contrast to M. bovis infected animals, none of the BCG vaccinated cattle generated a significant IFNγ response to the Mb3645c peptides (p<0.01, FIG. 2).

Finally, as few of the candidates turned out to be potent antigens, the correlation between mRNA levels and antigenicity was further explored. The responder frequencies were collected for an additional 80 mycobacterial proteins that had been screened in M. bovis infected cattle (Ewer et al., 2006, Cockle et al., 2002, Mustafa et al., 2006). Together these 94 proteins had responder frequencies that varied from 0 to 86% with an average of 30% so represented a broad range of antigenic potential. In comparison to their mRNA abundances, little correlation was found in either chemostat grown M. tuberculosis or M. bovis: 0.01 (Spearman's, p=0.38) and 0.06 (Spearman's, p=0.56) respectively, suggesting that mRNA level alone is not a strong predictor for antigenic potential in cattle.

To confirm the presence and location of the T-cell epitopes within Rv3615c, the response to constituent peptides from the Rv3615c pool was determined using an IFN-γ ELISPOT assay with PBMC isolated from M. bovis-infected cattle. Peptides SEQ ID NOs: 8-13 were recognized in at least two of the three cattle tested. Peptides SEQ ID NOs: 10-13 (spanning amino acids 57 to 103) from the C terminus of the protein were the most antigenic and were recognized by all three animals tested. Peptide SEQ ID NO:13 (AKIYSEADEAWRKAIDGLFT), in particular, stimulated a response in all three animals, with an average of 509 spot-forming units (SFU) per 10⁶ PBMC (standard deviation, 185.3 SFU per 10⁶ PBMC), which is comparable to the results for the pool as a whole (414 SFU per 10⁶ PBMC; standard deviation, 135.6 SFU per 10⁶ PBMC) (FIG. 4).

To further characterize the specific lymphocyte response to Rv3615c, a FACS analysis was performed with PBMC isolated from the same M. bovis-infected cattle that were used for the ELISPOT analysis. Lymphocytes were analyzed for intracellular IFN-γ production and the presence of CD4 and CD8 cell differentiation markers. It was found that, mirroring the ELISPOT data, peptides SEQ ID NO:2-8 stimulated little IFN-γ production. Markedly higher levels of IFN-γ were observed for the cells stimulated with peptides SEQ ID NOs: 9, 10, 12 and 13 (FIG. 5). Interestingly, no IFN-γ response to peptide SEQ ID NO: 11 was observed, despite the fact that a response was recorded in the ELISPOT assay. Analysis of the cells stimulated with peptide SEQ ID NO: 11 showed that the majority (>64%) of the cells in the sample were dead, suggesting that the peptide itself caused IFN-γ-induced apoptosis, which would be in line with the positive responses seen in the ELISPOT assay.

Discussion

There have been many strategies for the identification of mycobacterial immunogens using post-genomic methods including T-cell epitope prediction (Vordermeier et al., 2003) and genomic comparisons to identify pathogen specific open reading frames (Ewer et al., 2006). Previous work had shown that many highly expressed genes were known mycobacterial antigens; therefore, the inventors considered transcriptional activity as a predictor of antigenicity.

A selection of consistently highly expressed genes were screened for their ability to stimulate IFNγ responses from cattle infected with M. bovis. Fourteen candidates were selected based on their high expression in both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis across a variety of growth conditions, including in vitro chemostat and batch cultures, as well as from a macrophage infection and microaerophillic chemostat cultures. Proteins were excluded if they were known immunogens or had significant homology to proteins in other mycobacteria; hence the majority of the candidate antigens had no functional annotation. However, three were predicted membrane associated proteins, one an excisionase and one a PE family protein (Table 2).

Three of the candidates screened here (Rv3615c/14c/13c) appear to be located in the same operon of five genes (Rv3616c to Rv3612c). The entire operon is consistently highly expressed across all of the growth conditions analysed by microarray. One of these candidates—Mb3645c—had the greatest responder frequency in M. bovis-infected cattle of all of the candidates tested in this study. The products of these operonic genes have been identified as components of the mycobacterial secretion system (the SNM system), which functions to export both ESAT-6 and CFP-10 (Macgurn et al., 2005, Fortune et al., 2005). The product of the first gene in this operon, Rv3616c, has also been shown to be a dominant mycobacterial antigen. Rv3616c is more frequently recognised in M. bovis infected cattle compared to Rv3615c: 84.6% versus 37% (Mustafa et al., 2006). Rv3616c is secreted in a mutually dependent manner with ESAT-6 and CFP-10 (Fortune et al., 2005), whereas Rv3615c appears to interact with other proteins of the secretion system (Macgurn et al., 2005) and may therefore remain within the bacterial cell, which could explain the difference in frequencies of response from M. bovis infected cattle.

The ESAT-6/CFP-10 peptide cocktail had been developed as an alternative diagnostic reagent to PPD and differentiates infected and vaccinated individuals as these antigens are not present in M. bovis BCG (Vordermeier et al., 2001). The test is reported to have a sensitivity of around 77.9% in infected cattle. Rv3615c has been found not to be recognised by the immune systems of either M. bovis naïve or BCG vaccinated animals, unlike Rv3616c to which 40% of vaccinated individuals respond (Mustafa et al., 2006), and is therefore highly specific. Furthermore, 57% of cattle infected with M. bovis which do not respond to the ESAT-6/CFP-10 peptide cocktail used did generate a significant IFNγ response to Rv3615c. Therefore, the inclusion of Rv3615c into the ESAT-6/CFP-10 diagnostic cocktail increases the sensitivity of a diagnostic test for M. bovis, by detecting infected animals that fail to recognise the ESAT-6/CFP-10 epitopes. This is achieved without compromising test specificity.

Of the initial 14 candidates, just one was significantly antigenic whereas previous observations had led workers to believe that many highly expressed genes could be potent immunogens. It is well known that the processes of transcription and translation are tightly coupled in prokaryotes (Miller et al., 1970) and some correlation between mRNA and protein levels exists in the mycobacteria. It was therefore hypothesised that this was potentially reflecting a trend whereby more abundant proteins are simply more accessible to the host immune systems and more likely to be processed and presented by phagocytes. In light of the data generated by the inventors, this was examined in more detail by collecting responder frequencies for 94 proteins, including the 14 screened in this study. Surprisingly, very little correlation was found between mRNA levels and antigenicity as measured by responder frequencies, suggesting that mRNA abundance alone is not a valid predictor of antigenic status.

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Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred or exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and variations to the same can be accomplished without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and that such modifications are clearly contemplated herein. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein and set forth in the appended claims is intended nor should any be inferred.

All documents cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. 

1. A diagnostic reagent for use in the detection of M. tuberculosis infection in an animal, comprising one or more peptides each consisting of one of SEQ ID NO:1-13, or a functional variant peptide having at least 90% sequence identity to and capable of eliciting a similar immune response to SEQ ID NO:1-13. 